Gerald Barnes: Westside-Augusta High School
Barnes was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2004.
With more than 900 career coaching victories, Gerald Barnes refused to take credit for his success. The legendary coach was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2004.
Barnes is one of a handful of coaches in state history to win 700 games or more. Barnes retired at Westside after the 2022 season with a career mark of 953-337, the only school he ever coached at. Barnes was the head baseball coach at Westside from 1976-2022.
“Overall, the program has been good,” Barnes told The Augusta Chronicle. “I think, the whole time that I’ve been here, it’s from the people around us – not from what anything I’ve done. We’ve carried it on a little bit.”
He won back-to-back state titles in 1987 and 1988 and finished as the state runner-up twice (1980 and 2005). Barnes led the program to 22 region titles despite usually playing up in classification. He also has finished region runner-up 11 times. He coached the Georgia Dugout Club All-Stars on multiple occasions and he coached Team Georgia in the Sunbelt Classic.
A 1969 graduate of Richmond Academy where he played under the legendary A.L. Williams (who is also in the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame), Barnes originally attended the Carolina Military Academy in Maxton, N.C. where he suffered a knee injury.
He returned to Georgia and had a scholarship offer to South Georgia College, but he went to Middle Georgia College instead. He later attended Augusta State before graduating from Georgia Southern.
Barnes also served as the school's head football coach from 1997 to 2008 where he guided the Patriots to a region title and four postseason appearances in 12 seasons.
“I’ve been lucky through the years,” Barnes said. “A lot of good kids and a lot of good parents supported us. If I had to do it again, I’d do it again.”
Barnes has sent a wealth of players to college and a few signed professional contracts.
The longtime coach was inducted into the Richmond Academy Hall of Fame in 2022.
In 2008, Westside named its baseball field "Gerald Barnes Field." A plaque was placed at the top of the hill overlooking the baseball field which read, "Perhaps more important, he will be remembered for turning his boys of summer into the men of tomorrow."
Some information in this article was used from The Augusta Chronicle.